Yale Law students argued in Hartford federal court earlier this week that two Connecticut residents deported to Italy should be allowed to testify in person before the General Assembly.

U.S. District Court Judge Vanessa Bryant has yet to rule on whether Paula Milardo and Arnold Giammarco, who both moved to Connecticut legally in the early 1960s when they were children, should be allowed to return temporarily for an April hearing on how criminal convictions affect immigrant families.

Milardo was deported in 2011 because of a theft conviction. Giammarco was deported in 2012 because of convictions for drug possession and misdemeanor theft.

In February, Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, and Sen. Eric Coleman, D-Hartford, the co-chairs of the Judiciary Committee, subpoenaed Milardo and Giammarco to appear at an April 4 hearing about how criminal convictions affect immigrant families.

Earlier this month, the Yale Law School students representing Milardo and Giammarco submitted a petition with the court that asks the Department of Homeland Security to temporary suspend blocking the deportees from returning to the U.S.

According to the Yale Law School website, Milardo is also requesting that she be allowed to attend her state habeas trial which is scheduled for April 18 and 20.